Portable Word Processor A Real Winner

With more and more of us working away from the office, on the road, or at the local coffee shop and more and more students leaving the dorm room for the library or the park bench, there has been a veritable explosion in the sale of laptop computers. Once only for the affluent, laptops are now almost a necessity for many of us. Try as they might to provide the power and features of the desk top cousin, designers are always faced with the same challenges: Provide a full featured computer in a small package and make it run for an extended time without a large and heavy battery. While some progress has been made, many of the current inventory of machines continues to fetch a small king’s ransom.

I ran across a solution for many road warriors and students alike. This innovative device has a powerful easy to use word processor, a good mail feature and comes ready to do most any math calculation you can imagine. It is able to do this with very limited power requirements, comes in an ultra light case, a black and white integrated printer and is available at an almost unbelievable modest price at thousands of stores nationwide.

The word processor can handle most any language, even those that need a different alphabet. Arabic and Greek can be handled as easily as English or Spanish. I was able to write up a future column as easily as writing a shopping list. Underlining and Bolding sections of copy a snap. I was a bit disappointed with the italic feature, but I may need to get used to it. I especially like the fact that it can print out on most any size paper or envelopes. While color is an option, I can tell you that it is a real hassle and a very slow process to get true color output. If you want color you may want to use your desktop computer.

Most any math function can be accomplished with minimal input. Entering numbers and functions are a breeze. You can enter both text and numeric expressions simultaneously. The size of the spreadsheet is unlimited; however the hard copy is limited by the size of the paper.

When entering information you can delete a single character or a complete sentence with one stroke. When using it in drawing mode, the most complex intricate designs can be created. The latter feature does require some practice however.

Perhaps the most awesome feature is the portability. Because of an ergonomic design the device uses only a fraction of the energy of other word processors. As a result it can be carried in a shirt pocket or purse when not in use.

I have to say that the designers of the one I used were a bit unimaginative since they decided to offer it only with a bright yellow case. I have however seen others in other colors and styles.
With the low price, I suggest that you may wish to purchase a dozen or so. They are available in most local stores. I find that the Eberhard Faber Model #2 is the best for most of my tasks.

Oh well, Tuesday is April 1st.

Portable Word Processor A Real Winner

With more and more of us working away from the office, on the road, or at the local coffee shop and more and more students leaving the dorm room for the library or the park bench, there has been a veritable explosion in the sale of laptop computers. Once only for the affluent, laptops are now almost a necessity for many of us. Try as they might to provide the power and features of the desk top cousin, designers are always faced with the same challenges: Provide a full featured computer in a small package and make it run for an extended time without a large and heavy battery. While some progress has been made, many of the current inventory of machines continues to fetch a small king’s ransom.

I ran across a solution for many road warriors and students alike. This innovative device has a powerful easy to use word processor, a good mail feature and comes ready to do most any math calculation you can imagine. It is able to do this with very limited power requirements, comes in an ultra light case, a black and white integrated printer and is available at an almost unbelievable modest price at thousands of stores nationwide.

The word processor can handle most any language, even those that need a different alphabet. Arabic and Greek can be handled as easily as English or Spanish. I was able to write up a future column as easily as writing a shopping list. Underlining and Bolding sections of copy a snap. I was a bit disappointed with the italic feature, but I may need to get used to it. I especially like the fact that it can print out on most any size paper or envelopes. While color is an option, I can tell you that it is a real hassle and a very slow process to get true color output. If you want color you may want to use your desktop computer.

Most any math function can be accomplished with minimal input. Entering numbers and functions are a breeze. You can enter both text and numeric expressions simultaneously. The size of the spreadsheet is unlimited; however the hard copy is limited by the size of the paper.

When entering information you can delete a single character or a complete sentence with one stroke. When using it in drawing mode, the most complex intricate designs can be created. The latter feature does require some practice however.

Perhaps the most awesome feature is the portability. Because of an ergonomic design the device uses only a fraction of the energy of other word processors. As a result it can be carried in a shirt pocket or purse when not in use.

I have to say that the designers of the one I used were a bit unimaginative since they decided to offer it only with a bright yellow case. I have however seen others in other colors and styles.
With the low price, I suggest that you may wish to purchase a dozen or so. They are available in most local stores. I find that the Eberhard Faber Model #2 is the best for most of my tasks.

Oh well, Tuesday is April 1st.

Be Careful Opening Those Cute E-Cards

If you use your computer for email, I am sure that you have received one or more of those cute “E-Cards.” There are several services found on the Web that allow you to design and send greeting cards via email for most any occasion. Some can have music embedded and some even allow you to include short video clips. While most of these electronic missives are harmless, you should exercise some care when opening them. This is especially true if you don’t recognize the sender.

Unfortunately there are all too many people with nothing better to do than to hunker down in their parent’s basement eating potato chips and drinking Mountain Dew™ while figuring out how to make your online life miserable. Their personal challenge is to get into your computer, either to just cause havoc, or in some cases, to actually harvest information. In either case, you don’t want this to happen.
In the case of the E-cards, opening one of these infected cards can release a small program into your computer that can operate undetected by you. These are called “Trojan Horse” programs. Just as in the case of the citizens of ancient Troy, this gift is not to be accepted.

Because most new computers have a ton of memory and copious hard disk space, this infection may not be easy to detect, since at first your computer’s speed and functionality may feel normal.

Another clever tactic of these cyber trouble makers is to offer for free some little program that you can download. For example, you can download from the Weather Channel® web site www.weather.com a small program that will display the local temperature on the bottom of you screen. In the case of the Weather Channel®, this is a perfectly safe thing to do. However, if you get an email offering you a neat screen saver or a short funny movie to download, beware. Opening it can be a disaster.

Once infected, even the most tech savvy person will spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. In the worst case you may need to wipe the computer’s hard drive clean and start all over again. Not a fun thing to do.

One of the best ways to protect your computer and assure security is to have installed and active a good anti virus and anti “spy-ware” software. There are several good programs from companies like McAfee www.mcaffee.com and Office Trends www.trendmicro.com I have used McAfee at home and Office Trends at work. Both do a good job at sniffing out these nefarious programs. You must keep these programs up to date. In any given week hundreds of new viruses and spy ware programs are released on the internet aimed at causing problems. Both McAfee and Office Trends update themselves automatically making sure that you have the most current protection.

Perhaps sitting down and writing a real note on real paper and placing it in a real envelope is the better course. Nowadays getting something in the mail that is not a bill or a solicitation can be a real joy.

Be Careful Opening Those Cute E-Cards

If you use your computer for email, I am sure that you have received one or more of those cute “E-Cards.” There are several services found on the Web that allow you to design and send greeting cards via email for most any occasion. Some can have music embedded and some even allow you to include short video clips. While most of these electronic missives are harmless, you should exercise some care when opening them. This is especially true if you don’t recognize the sender.

Unfortunately there are all too many people with nothing better to do than to hunker down in their parent’s basement eating potato chips and drinking Mountain Dew™ while figuring out how to make your online life miserable. Their personal challenge is to get into your computer, either to just cause havoc, or in some cases, to actually harvest information. In either case, you don’t want this to happen.
In the case of the E-cards, opening one of these infected cards can release a small program into your computer that can operate undetected by you. These are called “Trojan Horse” programs. Just as in the case of the citizens of ancient Troy, this gift is not to be accepted.

Because most new computers have a ton of memory and copious hard disk space, this infection may not be easy to detect, since at first your computer’s speed and functionality may feel normal.

Another clever tactic of these cyber trouble makers is to offer for free some little program that you can download. For example, you can download from the Weather Channel® web site www.weather.com a small program that will display the local temperature on the bottom of you screen. In the case of the Weather Channel®, this is a perfectly safe thing to do. However, if you get an email offering you a neat screen saver or a short funny movie to download, beware. Opening it can be a disaster.

Once infected, even the most tech savvy person will spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. In the worst case you may need to wipe the computer’s hard drive clean and start all over again. Not a fun thing to do.

One of the best ways to protect your computer and assure security is to have installed and active a good anti virus and anti “spy-ware” software. There are several good programs from companies like McAfee www.mcaffee.com and Office Trends www.trendmicro.com I have used McAfee at home and Office Trends at work. Both do a good job at sniffing out these nefarious programs. You must keep these programs up to date. In any given week hundreds of new viruses and spy ware programs are released on the internet aimed at causing problems. Both McAfee and Office Trends update themselves automatically making sure that you have the most current protection.

Perhaps sitting down and writing a real note on real paper and placing it in a real envelope is the better course. Nowadays getting something in the mail that is not a bill or a solicitation can be a real joy.

Google Does More Than Find Things

Few online services have become so much a part of the culture as Google™. In some lexicons it has become an acceptable verb meaning to “look up or search for information.” I know that there is hardly a day that passes that I don’t use this powerful service. While there are several other search engines available on line, Google™ has established itself as the most widely used.

Recently there have been reports of expansion by Google™ into an array of other services including providing some online software to compete with some of Microsoft’s products like MS Word® and even Excel®. Whether these get a foothold is still to be determined. Nevertheless, there are several free Google™ services and products that are available now that are very useful.

For example, did you ever notice on the Google™ home page a little button labeled “Language Tools?” It is easy to miss. Look to the right of the search box. Clicking on this button opens up a neat translation service. You will find the capacity to translate text to or from more than a dozen languages ranging from Arabic to Spanish. Now for sure the translations will not be perfect but they will allow you to get the sense of meaning of the text written in a language unfamiliar to you. For example, if I type in, “Hi! Where can I find a newspaper?” Google™ will respond in French, “Salut. Où puis-je trouver un journal? ” For more complex text you will find that the system has some problems with idioms and words with multiple meanings. I would not recommend using it for business or anything legal. You could end up buying the Eiffel Tower rather than asking how to get there.

Google Alerts™ another very useful service that is free. This feature searches the internet for mentions of specific words and then sends you an email indicating where you will find the full article. For example, if Ollie, our esteemed editor, wants to know whenever the Harrison Press is mentioned on a blog, in some on-line publication or even in another newspaper, he can enter the words “Harrison Press” and periodically he will get notified via email when the publication is mentioned. For sure this service will not pick up every mention, but it does a credible job.

For you budding inventors Google™ offers an online patent search. Currently more than 7 million patents are listed. This will not take the place of a good attorney but it may be a place to start to see if someone else really does have that better mouse trap.

These are only a few of the many services that Google™ has developed. You can manage you digital photos, search for blogs, set up an email account or find images and pictures related to most any topic. For some of these searches you may get some results that are not acceptable to your personal preferences. Before using any of the search functions, you may wish to set up the search “filtering preferences.” You will find this feature on the Google home page under “Preferences.”

Again, for the most part Google™ services are free and in my experience worth much more than many services that charge a fee.

Google Does More Than Find Things

Few online services have become so much a part of the culture as Google™. In some lexicons it has become an acceptable verb meaning to “look up or search for information.” I know that there is hardly a day that passes that I don’t use this powerful service. While there are several other search engines available on line, Google™ has established itself as the most widely used.

Recently there have been reports of expansion by Google™ into an array of other services including providing some online software to compete with some of Microsoft’s products like MS Word® and even Excel®. Whether these get a foothold is still to be determined. Nevertheless, there are several free Google™ services and products that are available now that are very useful.

For example, did you ever notice on the Google™ home page a little button labeled “Language Tools?” It is easy to miss. Look to the right of the search box. Clicking on this button opens up a neat translation service. You will find the capacity to translate text to or from more than a dozen languages ranging from Arabic to Spanish. Now for sure the translations will not be perfect but they will allow you to get the sense of meaning of the text written in a language unfamiliar to you. For example, if I type in, “Hi! Where can I find a newspaper?” Google™ will respond in French, “Salut. Où puis-je trouver un journal? ” For more complex text you will find that the system has some problems with idioms and words with multiple meanings. I would not recommend using it for business or anything legal. You could end up buying the Eiffel Tower rather than asking how to get there.

Google Alerts™ another very useful service that is free. This feature searches the internet for mentions of specific words and then sends you an email indicating where you will find the full article. For example, if Ollie, our esteemed editor, wants to know whenever the Harrison Press is mentioned on a blog, in some on-line publication or even in another newspaper, he can enter the words “Harrison Press” and periodically he will get notified via email when the publication is mentioned. For sure this service will not pick up every mention, but it does a credible job.

For you budding inventors Google™ offers an online patent search. Currently more than 7 million patents are listed. This will not take the place of a good attorney but it may be a place to start to see if someone else really does have that better mouse trap.

These are only a few of the many services that Google™ has developed. You can manage you digital photos, search for blogs, set up an email account or find images and pictures related to most any topic. For some of these searches you may get some results that are not acceptable to your personal preferences. Before using any of the search functions, you may wish to set up the search “filtering preferences.” You will find this feature on the Google home page under “Preferences.”

Again, for the most part Google™ services are free and in my experience worth much more than many services that charge a fee.

Analog Pass Through DTV Converters

These DTV Set Top Converters will pass through the analog signals of the local Low Power stations.

ECHOSTAR TR-40
Magnavox TB-100MG9
Philco TB100HH9
Philco TB150HH9

Analog Pass Through DTV Converters

These DTV Set Top Converters will pass through the analog signals of the local Low Power stations.

ECHOSTAR TR-40
Magnavox TB-100MG9
Philco TB100HH9
Philco TB150HH9

Which DTV Converter Is Right For Me?

Well, they are here. The local Radio Shack store has a supply. The big box electronics stores like Best Buy, h h gregg and Circuit City have them in stock. Wal-Mart’s Blue Lights are a “spinnin’.” The Digital TV Converters have hit the store shelves. The good news is that they are, for the most part, moderately priced. With the $40 coupon available from Uncle Sam, you will have to spend only $20 and tax to take one home. The question is which one to take home.

For those who may need a refresher: The set top Digital Converter is a device that attaches to your analog TV and allows you to receive the new digital signals without buying a new digital TV. It is ONLY needed by those who receive their TV programs over-the-air with an antenna. If you are in that group, you will need to get one no later then midnight, February 17, 2009. If you have cable (basic or digital) or use a satellite service, or you have a new digital TV set, you can stop reading now, YOU DON’T NEED ONE!

For most of us the basic converter model will do just fine. It receives all the over-the-air digital signals and displays them on your TV. It is connected to your old TV in one of two ways. The simplest is through the TV antenna connection. Just like many video games, you connect the DTV Converter to the TV antenna plug, connect the TV antenna to the DTV Converter and tune the TV to either Channel 3 or 4. Voila, the connection is finished. You have to keep the TV set on channel 3 or 4 and use the new remote that comes with the converter to change channels and set volume. Even your oldest TV will now be controlled with this snazzy new remote and be able to display all the digital channels being broadcast by your local stations.

The second way to connect the converter to your TV is to use the direct Audio and Video (A/V) inputs. Many newer analog TVs have these inputs either on the front or the rear of the TV. They are usually color coded. Yellow for video and Red and White for audio. Most of the converters come with both an antenna cable and this special A/V cable. The only difference when using these audio/video connections is that you will need to set your TV to the proper input. It is usually called “Video or“Video1” or “Line or Line1” Each TV model is different, but a little trial and error with the TV’s remote should do it.

I mentioned above that there are other “flavors” of these converters. If you are a viewer of the low-power TV stations in Cincinnati, (e.g. Channel 25 and 38) you will need to make another choice. These TV stations will not convert to digital in February 2009, so if you want to continue to watch them you will either need to purchase a special DTV set top box or use the audio video option as described above and get a second antenna.

Let me explain. Some special converter set top boxes pass through the old signals when they are tuned off. So if you want to watch the old analog programs from the low power stations, you just switch the box off and use your TV tuner as you do now. When you want to watch the new digital channels, you turn the box back on. If you connected your new DTV converter using the audio/video cables, you can use the standard DTV converter. You will need to have a second antenna connected to your TV set for the analog channels. There is actually a third way using an A/B switch. For a diagram of that method, send me an email.

All of this can be a bit confusing. For most of us the simple converter is just fine. I will put a list of the various DTV converters on my blog if you want to know which one you will need to receive the low power analog stations.

I have tried out several converters and they all deliver a good picture and are very easy to set up. Most are “Plug & Play” meaning that once connected they search out the local channels, set up the on-screen program guide and give you options for captions. You must have a converter for each analog TV set. You don’t have to wait until February 2009. The digital channels are being broadcast locally right now so it is not too early to convert. Gee, I sound like a preacher!

Which DTV Converter Is Right For Me?

Well, they are here. The local Radio Shack store has a supply. The big box electronics stores like Best Buy, h h gregg and Circuit City have them in stock. Wal-Mart’s Blue Lights are a “spinnin’.” The Digital TV Converters have hit the store shelves. The good news is that they are, for the most part, moderately priced. With the $40 coupon available from Uncle Sam, you will have to spend only $20 and tax to take one home. The question is which one to take home.

For those who may need a refresher: The set top Digital Converter is a device that attaches to your analog TV and allows you to receive the new digital signals without buying a new digital TV. It is ONLY needed by those who receive their TV programs over-the-air with an antenna. If you are in that group, you will need to get one no later then midnight, February 17, 2009. If you have cable (basic or digital) or use a satellite service, or you have a new digital TV set, you can stop reading now, YOU DON’T NEED ONE!

For most of us the basic converter model will do just fine. It receives all the over-the-air digital signals and displays them on your TV. It is connected to your old TV in one of two ways. The simplest is through the TV antenna connection. Just like many video games, you connect the DTV Converter to the TV antenna plug, connect the TV antenna to the DTV Converter and tune the TV to either Channel 3 or 4. Voila, the connection is finished. You have to keep the TV set on channel 3 or 4 and use the new remote that comes with the converter to change channels and set volume. Even your oldest TV will now be controlled with this snazzy new remote and be able to display all the digital channels being broadcast by your local stations.

The second way to connect the converter to your TV is to use the direct Audio and Video (A/V) inputs. Many newer analog TVs have these inputs either on the front or the rear of the TV. They are usually color coded. Yellow for video and Red and White for audio. Most of the converters come with both an antenna cable and this special A/V cable. The only difference when using these audio/video connections is that you will need to set your TV to the proper input. It is usually called “Video or“Video1” or “Line or Line1” Each TV model is different, but a little trial and error with the TV’s remote should do it.

I mentioned above that there are other “flavors” of these converters. If you are a viewer of the low-power TV stations in Cincinnati, (e.g. Channel 25 and 38) you will need to make another choice. These TV stations will not convert to digital in February 2009, so if you want to continue to watch them you will either need to purchase a special DTV set top box or use the audio video option as described above and get a second antenna.

Let me explain. Some special converter set top boxes pass through the old signals when they are tuned off. So if you want to watch the old analog programs from the low power stations, you just switch the box off and use your TV tuner as you do now. When you want to watch the new digital channels, you turn the box back on. If you connected your new DTV converter using the audio/video cables, you can use the standard DTV converter. You will need to have a second antenna connected to your TV set for the analog channels. There is actually a third way using an A/B switch. For a diagram of that method, send me an email.

All of this can be a bit confusing. For most of us the simple converter is just fine. I will put a list of the various DTV converters on my blog if you want to know which one you will need to receive the low power analog stations.

I have tried out several converters and they all deliver a good picture and are very easy to set up. Most are “Plug & Play” meaning that once connected they search out the local channels, set up the on-screen program guide and give you options for captions. You must have a converter for each analog TV set. You don’t have to wait until February 2009. The digital channels are being broadcast locally right now so it is not too early to convert. Gee, I sound like a preacher!

Do I Need A DTV Converter?

I have written extensively about the February 2009 Analog Broadcast cut off and the Set Top DTV Converters that are now available to allow you to continue to use your analog TV sets – yes, even the old black and white model in the basement - after the analog channels go away. In light of the misinformation that is being distributed on radio and TV and in newspapers, I thought that I would take this opportunity to go over the basics again.

First a definition. A Set Top DTV Converter is a device that connects to your analog TV and allows you to watch programs being BROADCAST locally over-the-air in the new Digital format. These devices are NOT used with cable or satellite services. Those services have specialized set top boxes.

I received a series of questions from John, a regular reader of my column. I think they are representative of some of the most often asked.

John writes,
“I have analog cable; will I need some sort of converter box for my new digital HD LCD TV?”

You have two choices if you want to get the digital channels. You can upgrade your cable service to digital with a HD Cable box and get all the digital and HD channels including the cable-only channels, e.g. ESPN, HBO, etc., or you can attach an antenna to your new set and receive only the local digital channels broadcast over-the-air. You do not need a Set Top DTV Converter for the new digital TV set. You will no longer get the analog channels from cable on this new set without upgrading to digital cable.

“What about the old TV’s? Will they still work with basic analog cable?”

Yes, you will get all the channels that you get now without any converter. If you want to watch all the new over-the-air digital channels, you will need a converter connected to an antenna for each TV. If you want to get the cable digital channels you need to upgrade your cable service and connect the old sets to cable using a digital cable boxes. There are two types of Time Warner digital cable boxes. One connects to your regular analog set and provides all the non-HD digital channels. The other is an HD box and it provides all those channels plus the HD channels and can be used only with new HD sets. Currently Time Warner charges the same for the standard digital box and the HD box.

“I have several VCRs that are not digital; will I still be able to record and time shift?”

As long as they are connected to either the cable or the converter, they will work as they do now.

The bottom line, everything you now have by being connected to basic cable will continue to work after February 2009. If you want HD on your new set you must either subscribe to digital cable with an HD Cable box or install an antenna on the HD set to receive local the local Digital channels (both HD and Standard Definition.)

“Do you have some suggestions for finding good unbiased reviews of DTV sets?

Consumer Report® magazine is always a good place to look.

The converters are now available in stores and most are priced at $59.99. The local Radio Shack® store now has then in stock. With the $40.00 coupon applied to the purchase price you are looking at $20 bucks each for the devices. If you have not already done so, you can request coupons from Uncle Sam on line at www.dtv2009.gov or by calling 1-888-388-2009.

Next week I’ll discuss the various types and models of converters that are available and how to connect them.

Do I Need A DTV Converter?

I have written extensively about the February 2009 Analog Broadcast cut off and the Set Top DTV Converters that are now available to allow you to continue to use your analog TV sets – yes, even the old black and white model in the basement - after the analog channels go away. In light of the misinformation that is being distributed on radio and TV and in newspapers, I thought that I would take this opportunity to go over the basics again.

First a definition. A Set Top DTV Converter is a device that connects to your analog TV and allows you to watch programs being BROADCAST locally over-the-air in the new Digital format. These devices are NOT used with cable or satellite services. Those services have specialized set top boxes.

I received a series of questions from John, a regular reader of my column. I think they are representative of some of the most often asked.

John writes,
“I have analog cable; will I need some sort of converter box for my new digital HD LCD TV?”

You have two choices if you want to get the digital channels. You can upgrade your cable service to digital with a HD Cable box and get all the digital and HD channels including the cable-only channels, e.g. ESPN, HBO, etc., or you can attach an antenna to your new set and receive only the local digital channels broadcast over-the-air. You do not need a Set Top DTV Converter for the new digital TV set. You will no longer get the analog channels from cable on this new set without upgrading to digital cable.

“What about the old TV’s? Will they still work with basic analog cable?”

Yes, you will get all the channels that you get now without any converter. If you want to watch all the new over-the-air digital channels, you will need a converter connected to an antenna for each TV. If you want to get the cable digital channels you need to upgrade your cable service and connect the old sets to cable using a digital cable boxes. There are two types of Time Warner digital cable boxes. One connects to your regular analog set and provides all the non-HD digital channels. The other is an HD box and it provides all those channels plus the HD channels and can be used only with new HD sets. Currently Time Warner charges the same for the standard digital box and the HD box.

“I have several VCRs that are not digital; will I still be able to record and time shift?”

As long as they are connected to either the cable or the converter, they will work as they do now.

The bottom line, everything you now have by being connected to basic cable will continue to work after February 2009. If you want HD on your new set you must either subscribe to digital cable with an HD Cable box or install an antenna on the HD set to receive local the local Digital channels (both HD and Standard Definition.)

“Do you have some suggestions for finding good unbiased reviews of DTV sets?

Consumer Report® magazine is always a good place to look.

The converters are now available in stores and most are priced at $59.99. The local Radio Shack® store now has then in stock. With the $40.00 coupon applied to the purchase price you are looking at $20 bucks each for the devices. If you have not already done so, you can request coupons from Uncle Sam on line at www.dtv2009.gov or by calling 1-888-388-2009.

Next week I’ll discuss the various types and models of converters that are available and how to connect them.